She nailed him with a narrow-eyed stare. “Are you trying to manipulate me or something?”
He scoffed at her. “It may be time for you to have a drink and relax.” A dark brow rose as he looked back to where she’d come from, then he shook his head and a faintest touch of a smile curved his mouth. “Come on. I know where they hide the good stuff.”
Jade let him lead her away. It was better than being a captive of her own imagination, thinking that she heard the couple kissing and laughing together again, happily ignoring the houseful of strangers and family roaming the place.
* * *
It wasn’t long before she lost Carter again, though.
Someone else had a problem. Giving her an apologetic look, he asked her to stay by his side, but she shook her head and drifted off in a different direction while he went to play savior again.
Jade wandered.
The party, though so very obviously about family, was also focused on fun. Lots of different smells had teased her nose when she walked though the house. Fried ripe plantains. Rice and peas flavored with creamy coconut milk. Jerk chicken and jerk pork that she recognized from her year or so after college living next to a Jamaican restaurant that she visited way too often.
An outdoor grill sizzled with different types of shish kebabs and was being tended to by yet another guy in a waiter’s uniform. Reggae music played through the house and the yard. The air of the party was festive and casual.
Only there for business, Jade felt out of place. Like she didn’t belong. It was a familiar feeling, sticky and unpleasant that made her want to shelter herself in coldness and retreat again into a corner someplace to watch what she couldn’t be a part of.
Jade fought the urge. No repeat visits to the middle school corner.
“I can tell you’re wondering what you’re doing here,” Carter said.
Minus his suit jacket and with his sleeves rolled up, he sat down beside her on the bench where she’d been quietly enjoying the uncomplicated crowd and lush backyard.
Her parents’ house didn’t have anywhere near the amount of the space of this backyard but she bet it could have something similar. Flowers and maybe a gazebo, other things to complement the pool and modest size.
In San Diego, she had her little house, her tiny backyard on the mountainside, her circular pool and its Jacuzzi. But over the years, she’d come to accept that San Diego and all of California had become a sort of consolation prize for her.
Because of the complicated relationship with her parents, she’d written off the entire state of Florida. She’d wanted to go back for the warm ocean water, forever sun and Caribbean food. But could never bring herself to leave the safety of California after she’d gotten her business degree.
She’d been a coward then. She was a coward now.
Jade tore her eyes away from the beautiful yard. She’d always liked pretty things. Only recently had she been able to afford them and it felt nice.
“I am.” She turned to Carter. “Your family is fantastic but they don’t give me a sense at all of the company.”
Kingsley was relaxed and casual, fun with his fiancée and the other members of his family. Nothing at all like he was at the office. Yes, Jade had met the wives but that meant nothing since none of them were involved in the family business.
“Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the right things,” Carter said, his warm and deep voice rumbling over her. “You’ve been staring at the garden and just about everything else in this backyard all night instead of actually meeting the members of my family involved in the company.”
Why was he paying such close attention to her?
And why was she letting that affect her so much?
“Was there something I missed?” she asked to get herself back on track.
“One or two,” he said with that now familiar almost smile. “You want to come see?”
It wasn’t like she was doing anything particularly interesting outside. “Sure.” She fell in step beside him and took the arm he offered.
They walked toward the house and she couldn’t help but notice the few heads that turned to watch them pass. Like before, it was nothing sinister, nothing hostile, just a look that said she was familiar to them somehow. Jade didn’t understand when she’d never met any of them before.
“Your family is weird,” she leaned over and said before she could think better of it. People were sensitive about their families, and she was sure Carter was no different. She internally winced, waiting for his reaction.
“They can be a little of that,” he said with a subtle crinkling of the corners of his eyes.
Then she bit her lip, feeling guilty. Only a solid ten seconds chewing on her tongue kept her from apologizing. She wasn’t comfortable here and that was no one’s fault but her own. She didn’t need to take it out on Carter or the family he so obviously loved and would do anything for.
As they walked through the yard and toward the house, a young boy around twelve peeled himself from a group of kids his own age. “Carter! Hold up.” When Carter stopped, the boy held out his fist for a bump. “Thanks for taking care of the situation at school for me. Good looking out.”
“You’re welcome,” Carter said, only slowing down enough to bump fists. “But you know you have to take care of it yourself next time, right?”
The boy mumbled and rolled his eyes. “I know.” But there was no heat behind his words. If anything, only admiration for Carter who’d apparently done something for him that he was able but unwilling to do.
“Good. I’ll see you at Lola’s gallery opening later.”
“For sure.” The boy disappeared back into his group of friends.
Roughly the same thing happened four more times before they even made it to the back steps leading into the house.
It was a little amazing. “So, you are magic, huh?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted with a negligent lift of a shoulder. “Sometimes not.”
“When haven’t you been?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“With you.”
The comment shocked her for a moment and she could only blink in surprise while her body still moved on autopilot, putting one leg after the other, to stay at his side.
That was far from the truth.
But she didn’t feel this was the place to tell him the extent of it. “Having you around has definitely changed my life.”
“But not fixed anything you needed taking care of, though,” he said, voice rumbling deep and sure.
All the things she’d gone through with him, because of him, because of her feelings for him back then and now. Although she’d wanted to blame him, he wasn’t at fault in this. It took the two of them to make the decisions that had irrevocably changed her life ten years ago.
“Here we go.” Carter pushed open the door to the living room.
It was nearly empty, with a pair of children playing jacks on the tiled floor and a couple tucked away in a corner love seat and having a laughing conversation complete with touches and playful shoves.
“Hey, Lola. Where are the parents?” Carter raised his voice.
The girl of the couple on the love seat tossed him a look over her shoulder. “Papa is upstairs having cigars with the boys. Mama, who knows?”
“Thanks.” Carter threw the girl a wave that she raised her own hand to without looking back.
“It’s upstairs we’ll go, then,” he said.
At Carter’s side, Jade wound her way through the house. On their way through the mansion that was both showpiece and family warmth, he fended off more questions and requests for advice. He was graceful, calm, patient. And as she watched him answer question after question, his deep voice resonant and calm, she began to feel something that was both familiar and alien.
A warmth behind her breastbone. Prickling in her p
alms. The awareness of her heart picking up speed inside her chest.
Carter wasn’t a handsome man to some. But to her, he was absolutely gorgeous. Breath-stealing. And he’d only gotten more devastatingly handsome over the years since they’d been apart. The bastard.
She wasn’t exactly sure what had changed. But she tucked it away to look at more thoroughly later.
How did Carter put up with this all the time? The questions never stopped coming. Was this what it was like for him even as a kid in college?
At the bottom of the stairs as they were about to head up, Carter’s phone rang.
He scowled briefly at the phone before he swiped across the screen to answer the call.
“Carter.”
Jade made to move past him and continue up the stairs but he snagged a casual hand around her waist, a move that seemed both so unfamiliar and completely natural that she froze.
She turned in the strange embrace, inadvertently bringing herself even closer to him, her hip brushing against his, the scent of his aftershave rich in her nose. That feeling came over her again. A rush of awareness of him. Her body a sonar, pinging with his very nearness.
Move away.
She willed her legs to walk and leave him, but she couldn’t move.
“I’ll take care of it,” he was saying to the person on the other line. He didn’t seem happy about it. But did he seem happy overall? He was so completely cool, it was nearly impossible to tell.
She licked her lips, her heart thumping like a warning drum. She braced her palms against his chest and eased back, pushing against the warm and solid bulk of him. His voice vibrated beneath her palms, up her arms and into her own chest. A delicious shiver rocked through her.
He looked down at her, eyes warm and dark, but didn’t let go.
Chill out, she told herself, staring up into his eyes. Calm down. This is nothing. What you’re feeling is just leftover stuff from before. It’s nothing.
“I’m a little busy now, but I’ll deal with it tomorrow and let you know when it’s done.” He sounded like he was arranging a mob hit or something.
Jade rolled her eyes. She absolutely didn’t want to know.
If nothing else, she had plausible deniability.
Her mind plucked different scenarios from the air of what he could be talking about. Anything to distract her from the feelings quivering through her body from his nearness.
“Good,” he said, his voice tumbling down into its deeper registers. He was about to end the call. “Don’t get into any more trouble in the meantime.”
Trouble? Carter pulled the phone away from his ear and she grabbed his hand.
“What kind of trouble are you getting into?”
“Trouble? Me? Never, Ms. Tremaine. When have you known me to ever step in something I wasn’t sure of?” His eyes gleamed down at her. “Can you say the same thing about yourself?”
The sound of footsteps from above them on the stairs yanked her gaze from Carter. Jade blinked.
A sleek, young body in a catsuit. A beautiful and familiar face full of mischief. The girl galloped down the steps wearing a huge smile, her hair flying around her face like a dark, wild and living thing. She looked just as wild and happy as the last time Jade had seen her.
“I’m so glad you could come.” Giggling, Dee threw her arms around Jade and squeezed.
Chapter 7
Jade jerked out of her shock at seeing Dee the last place she expected. “What are you doing here?”
“Because I live here, silly.” Dee drew back from their hug. “At least I do sometimes. I have my own place, but I kinda like my folks, so I’m here a lot.”
Jade felt like she was living in the twilight zone. Or at least like she was looking at Dee with her mouth hanging open. “Your folks?”
“Yes. Carter here is my beloved brother, and I would do just about anything for him.” And she looked at the big guy with a smile and something else Jade could not identify. “Jaxon, though, can go play in traffic. Twins or not, he is a pain in my whole entire ass.” Dee squeezed Carter’s arm and turned back to Jade. “By the way, did you have fun with him at the club? Don’t tell me I wasted my time setting that up.”
The club? Of course. No wonder she couldn’t find Dee once she and Carter had run into each other. God damn...
Jade didn’t like to think of herself as dumb, but this whole situation was just weird. It stank of blatant manipulation, something she’d just stupidly accused Carter of. As if he knew all her triggers and the emotional black hole she lived in.
“So you didn’t think it was important to tell me that you are a Diallo, that Jaxon Diallo is your brother. That Kingsley is your brother?”
Dee’s pretty face frowned up. “It was important to you but not to me.” She shook her head and wrinkled her nose.
Jade couldn’t help it. She stared at Dee as if the girl had lost her ever-loving mind. What was up with these Diallos anyway?
So far Kingsley was the only one who hadn’t rubbed her the wrong way. Or who hadn’t gone out of his way to make her want to give them throat chop, chop to the throat.
As if he had read her mind, Carter leaned close to Jade. “We’re not all bad, I promise. Paxton is just a little special. All the geniuses in the family are.”
He lightly pushed Paxton away with the fond smile. “Ease up, girl. I can see exactly what you’re doing.”
“It’s not like I’m trying to hide it.” Paxton gave her brother an impish grin and Jade looked from one Diallo to the other wondering what she was missing.
“I don’t need your help,” Carter rumbled, and the sound was almost defensive.
“I beg to differ, brother dear.” Paxton giggled and tossed her black, dandelion hair. “In this instance, you definitely need all the help I can give you.”
She had never been one to shy away from questions. Either asking or answering them.
The young girl was as pretty as the last time Jade saw her. Vibrant and mischievous. But something different sparkled in her whiskey-brown eyes. A different set of worries, maybe. Like something had been settled for her recently that had worried her before.
“What’s going on here?”
“Nothing that Carter won’t tell you about later.” She dimpled again at Jade then lightly punched Carter in the arm. “Welcome to our home, Jade. If I don’t bump into you again later, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon.” She jumped to her tiptoes and kissed Carter’s cheek, then she was off, slipping through the endlessly moving group of beautiful people in the Diallo house.
“Well, that wasn’t weird at all.” Jade tipped a look over her shoulder then turned fully to face Carter. “Do members of your family often go by aliases out in the world?”
“Aliases?”
“Yes. I met your sister before but she introduced herself as Dee, not Paxton.”
He gave a long-suffering sigh. “Somehow I’m not surprised. That girl goes her own way most times. Even when it looks like the path to destruction.”
“I can see that.”
“Don’t worry about it too much, though.” His hand drifted from her shoulder and down her back. “You’ll only end up in the nuthouse yourself trying to make sense of them. Of us.” Amusement made his eyes gleam, but otherwise it didn’t look like he was joking.
“How did I get involved with you guys?” she said, shaking her head. Why hadn’t she known that Carter came from a big and crazy-making family before now?
“You were overwhelmed by my amazing charm and irresistible sexiness?” An eyebrow rose. The sleek rise of the dark, manicured brow only showed off the unsmiling but devastatingly sexy shape of his mouth.
Jade’s heart skipped with sudden panic. She couldn’t be falling for him all over again. She couldn’t.
Run. Run. Run.
She cleared her throat
. “It’s time for me to head out. Any business I have is pretty much over.”
“Are you sure?” The shape of Carter’s hand burned into the small of her back.
“Positive.” Her heart beat so loudly, she could barely hear herself talk. “I think it’s time I got out of your hair and let you enjoy your family in peace.”
A line of worry settled between Carter’s eyes. “Let me drive you back to your hotel, then.”
“No, I can just cab it from here.”
“Absolutely not. I’m not going to abandon you, Jade.”
She opened her mouth to protest again.
“Don’t make an asshole out of me, Jade.”
A sigh leaked from her lips. She’d be the asshole, though, if she took him away from his family and this celebration of his brother’s happiness. Even she wasn’t clueless enough to let that happen. She took a step back and gritted her teeth against the flood of disappointment when his hand fell away from her skin.
What was wrong with her?
“Okay. Fine.” The devil made her reach out and brace her palms against his chest—he was so warm!—and lift her face to his intent gaze. “I’ll stay as long as you’re here.”
Doubt clouded his compelling features.
Jade bit her lip. Her fingers curled themselves into the soft fabric of his suit. “I promise.”
When she said the words, his gaze cleared. “Good.” He stepped closer and then, against her better judgment, became connected by her touch and his. His hands settled on her hips, burning in her even more thoroughly than that first touch. “Now, come, let me introduce you around to the rest of the family. They’ll want to know who’s going to save our bacon despite Jaxon’s foolishness.”
She bowed to the inevitable, maybe not gracefully, but with certainty. “Okay. That works. But I’ll need more of that rum punch. I swear you guys put something in it.”
“Never.” But his faint smile was pure mischief, and when she got her refill she sniffed it a few times to see if it had anything crazy in it. But all she smelled was her own self-delusion.
* * *
After a couple of hours, she managed to meet every member of the family, including Dee again, whose name was apparently Paxton.
Her Perfect Pleasure Page 11
